Nearby pesticides may cause health problems
By Jeyling Chou
April 28, 2003 9:00 p.m.
Students better think twice before sitting on the grass ““
or anywhere else for that matter.
Studies conducted by a UCLA professor suggest that chemicals in
commonly used pesticides mimic the behavior of the hormone
estrogen, which regulates menstrual cycles in women.
Chemicals from pesticides which are similar in structure to
estrogen molecules can wreak havoc in a woman’s body by
binding to estrogen receptors. This causes an effect which is
similar to high levels of estrogen, and can lead to irregular
menstruation, infertility or breast cancer.
In previous years, physiological science Professor James Barnard
conducted surveys of his students as part of his Physiological
Science 5 class. The surveys revealed some of the symptoms of the
estrogen-like effect of pesticides.
In Fall 1998, 13 percent of female students reported irregular
bleeding for several days every month. Fifty percent said the
problem was worse at UCLA than it was at home.
In the past, pesticides have been used to maintain UCLA grounds
and grassy areas.
“Every spring break, they sprayed pesticide,”
Barnard said. “People would come along and sit on the grass
and not even know they were sitting on pesticides.”
In 1998, Barnard asked the school to place signs after
pesticides were sprayed.
Barnard said that as a result of his requests, signs were posted
for spraying of the most lethal types of pesticides.
According to Miles Kitasato, senior grounds supervisor for
facilities management, the use of outdoor pesticides was halted
last October with the loss of the pesticide vendor.
However, EJ Kirby, manager of facilities management and campus
maintenance, said UCLA has not used pesticides in the maintenance
of outdoor facilities and grounds since 1990.
Kirby was not available for further comment at the time this
story was published.
Barnard conducted a case study in 1998 documenting a high school
female athlete who experienced irregular periods after running at
track meets where pesticides or herbicides had been used.
After the principal at the school banned the use of pesticides
on the field, the patient no longer experienced abnormal
bleeding.
Although women are more susceptible, the adverse effects of
pesticide can manifest differently in men.
Researchers are investigating a link between exposure to
pesticides and the occurrence of prostate cancer in men. Prostate
tumor cells also contain estrogen receptors which are influenced by
an abnormal amount of estrogen-like molecules.
But exposure to pesticides does not only occur outdoors.
Food service facilities on campus receive several monthly visits
from Ecolab, a company which provides sanitizing and pest
elimination services.
In the instance of an infestation of pests like rodents or
insects, Ecolab administers a local application of pesticide.
According to Darren Rebello, director of student union at
student support services for the Associated Students of UCLA,
indoor pesticide is applied once a month in all of the food service
facilities, regardless of whether or not there is an infestation,
according to Darren Rebello, senior service specialist for Ecolab,
who is in charge of all sanitation and pest elimination at
UCLA.
Ecolab also advises ASUCLA in the resistance to pests by
maintaining the cleanliness of its facilities.
“We really do try as much as we can to exercise a
preventative mentality,” Mann said. “Pesticides are the
last thing we use.”
Many restaurants and movie theaters in Westwood receive regular
visits from Ecolab every month, or in some cases, every other
week.
Pesticides can affect hormonal levels even without direct
contact or use. Residue from agricultural or industrial pesticide
usage can drift for miles.
The Environmental Protection Agency has found that golf course
superintendents, farmers and lawn-care keepers with high exposure
to pesticide are more likely to develop long-term health problems
such as leukemia and perinatal mortality.
Attention deficit disorder, autism and other behavioral
disorders are more likely to develop in the children of farmers who
use particular pesticides, according to the Northwest Coalition for
Alternatives to Pesticides.
A study conducted in Minnesota’s Red River Valley reports
a significantly greater number of girls conceived to applicators of
pesticides.
In animals, studies have found that exposure to pesticides can
lower the level of testosterone in male frogs to below that of
female frogs, causing them to undergo a change in sex. These toxins
can also affect tadpoles, causing them to become hermaphrodites
possessing both male and female sex organs.
Once they are introduced to the environment, chemicals from
insecticides and other pest control methods can remain in the soil,
water and air for up to 50 years.
“The problem we have now in our society is people are
allergic to everything,” Barnard said. “The human body
is being exposed to so many foreign chemicals.”
These chemicals include residues not only from pesticides, but
also from manufactured fragrances like perfumes and colognes.
